Lawsuit filed over RV stink

Michael Ammon, owner of Downtown Dogs, wants that former neighbor to pay for the damages.

Ammon filed a lawsuit late last year in Ottawa County Circuit Court against Ronald Windemuller, a Spring Lake resident who kept his recreational vehicle next to Ammon's in the Tanglefoot RV Park, 312 W. Exchange St. in Spring Lake. The lawsuit claims Windemuller disconnected the line that hooked up Ammon's motor home with the park’s septic and waste system on July 29, 2012, while Ammon was away.

The Ammons, not knowing what had been done, ran a washing machine and flushed a toilet in their RV, said their attorney, Rob German. They left again and came back to find that sewage had backed up all over their motor home.

“They had to remove carpeting, wood — anything that it came in contact with,” German said. “It was not a pleasant thing.”

German said the motor home had to be towed and that damages were “upwards of $25,000.”

“The majority of expenses were having to redo the floors and woodwork,” the attorney said.

Ammon said it was the first weekend of the 2012 Coast Guard Festival when his park neighbor told him there was a problem with his sewer connection. Ammon said it was late at night on a Friday or Saturday, after he had worked a long day at his restaurant, so he suggested they meet with the park manager on Monday.

By Sunday, Ammon said he had a mess inside his motor home.

“I ran outside, saw all the valves shut off,” he said. “(Windemuller) was sitting outside. I asked him if he did this. He said, ‘Yes.’”

In an answer filed in court along with the lawsuit, Windemuller admitted that he did disconnect the sewer line.

“Defendant’s acts were justified efforts to protect the health and safety of his family and other occupants of the Tanglefoot recreational vehicle park," he stated.

To read more of this story, see today’s print or e-edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.